BHUBANESWAR: Real estate developers in the city are targeting affordable housing to revive the sluggish real estate market.

A property expo by Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (Credai), Odisha chapter, which began here on Friday, offers houses at prices as low as Rs 5.5 lakh.

"The low price tag is a realistic approach. There are buyers for low cost houses, while the city has unsold inventory for high-end properties," said Pradeep Khuntia, project in-charge of AVS Kutira, a project offering 150 housing units in the cost range of Rs 5.5 lakh (One bed room, kitchen) to Rs 13.5 lakh (two bed rooms, hall, kitchen).

Around 50 builders are participating in the three-day expo at Janata Maidan. The builders together are presenting at least 1,000 units below Rs 20 lakh. Majority of the units are in the range of Rs 10 lakh-Rs 20 lakh.

"We believe, the slowdown market can turn around with the low cost houses. There are prospective home buyers in this segment for whom currently few houses are available, while for the high-end investor-buyers the city has a large stock," said Binaya Krishna Das, president, Credai Odisha.

Umesh Patnaik, general secretary, Credai Odisha, said it is for the first time that developers have shown houses below Rs six lakh. By the next year, the builders will have plenty to offer at still lower range starting from Rs 3.2 lakh to meet the needs of the economically weaker sections, he said.

The changing trend of builders shifting focus to low cost houses comes at a time when the realty sector is experiencing a slump. Housing projects floated in the past two to three years worth Rs 20,000 crore are under various stages of construction in the state capital and its periphery. An estimated 40 per cent of these projects are yet to get buyers.

"The new projects to be floated or launched recently will be mostly studio apartments, 1BHK and 2BHK units that will cost below Rs 25 lakh," said D S Tripathy, national joint secretary, Credai.

BHUBANESWAR: Once bitten twice shy. The Phailin onslaught has promoted the jittery state government to reassess the planning and design of the proposed houses to be built under the centrally-sponsored Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) for the urban poor in Bhubaneswar.

BHUBANESWAR: The housing and urban development (H&UD) department has rapped the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) for selecting Sulabh International, an organization promoting sanitation, without floating tenders for construction of public toilets in the city.

BHUBATIESWAR: State Housing and Urban Development (H&UD) department has asked Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) to take advance possession of 96.24 acre of land at Gothapatana on the outskirts of the city for construction of houses under the Scheme for Affordable Urbul Housing in Orissa, 2012:

BHUBANESWAR: The Bhubaneswar municipal corporation (BMC) on Monday signed an MoU with National Building Construction Corporation Limited (NBCC) for construction of Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) houses at Gadakana here.

BHUBANESWAR: Kalinga Sena supremo Hemant Rath on Sunday alleged that the waterlogging in the capital city caused due to the torrential downpours for five consecutive days is ‘manmade’ and the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) and the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) are highly responsible for the problem.

BHUBANESWAR: A two-storey building at Old Station Bazaar collapsed on Wednesday night as torrential rain continued to the lash the city. No one was hurt as the building was used as a godown by a sanitary shop.